Kevin Spacey Compares His #Metoo Reckoning to Coronavirus Layoffs: I Was Suddenly Told I Couldn’t Work

Actor Kevin Spacey described his “painful” experience in losing his career over sexual assault allegations by comparing himself to workers being laid off due to the Chinese coronavirus, stating that he “can relate to what it feels like” as he was “suddenly told” he “can’t go back to work.”

“I don’t think it will come as a surprise for anyone to say that my world completely changed in the fall of 2017,” said the disgraced actor in a recent interview for the Bits & Pretzels podcast, according to a report by Daily Mail.

“My job, many of my relationships, my standing in my own industry were all gone in just a matter of hours,” added Spacey, who had been accused of sexual misconduct by a series of men.

Spacey’s interview with the Bits & Pretzels podcast was his first time making public commentary since he was accused of the sexual assaults.

The former House of Cards star went on to claim that he “can relate” to those who have had their “world suddenly stop” after being laid off from their jobs as a result Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.

“I don’t often like to tell people that I can relate to their situation, because I think it undermines the experience that they may be having, which is their own unique and very personal experience,” said Spacey. “But in this instance, I feel as though I can relate to what it feels like to have your world suddenly stop.”

“And so while we may have found ourselves in similar situations — albeit for very different reasons — I still believe that some of the emotional struggles are very much the same,” said Spacey. “So I do have empathy for what it feels like to suddenly be told that you can’t go back to work or that you might lose your job, and that it’s a situation that you have absolutely no control over.”

In September 2019, one of Spacey’s accusers died, the actor was later able to settle in the sexual assault lawsuit filed against him after the anonymous accuser’s estate dropped the case. Another one of Spacey’s sexual assault accusers was Ari Behn, a former member of Norway’s royal family. Behn died at age 47 in 2019 on Christmas Day.

The sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey were first made in 2017 by actor Anthony Rap, who claimed that Spacey, then 26, had invited him to his apartment for a party, where he carried Rapp, then 14, onto his bed and climbed on top of him.

Spacey responded to the allegation by claiming that he had no memory of the decades-old incident with Rapp, but added that he apologies if such an encounter did occur. Spacey also used his apology statement as an opportunity to come out as gay.

“I had no idea what to do next, because all I ever knew was how to act,” said Spacey on the topic of losing his career in his recent interview with Bits & Pretzels.

“And when my career came to a grinding, screeching halt,” continued Spacey, “when I was faced with the uncertainty that I might never be hired as an actor again, I had to ask myself — if I can’t act, who am I?”

“I mean, I had only ever valued myself through my work, I had only defined myself through my work,” he added. “That’s who I was. But if that wasn’t going to be a possibility anymore, then who am I when all I am left with is just me?”

In November 2017, Kevin Spacey was cut from Ridley Scott’s finished film All the Money in the World and replaced by Christopher Plummer just over one month before it’s supposed to hit theaters. Plummer assumed the role of J. Paul Getty in the film that co-stars Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams.

The Associated Press contributed to this article. 

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.